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Okay, those of you interested in a bit less trollsome discussion about the events in Ukraine, please come here. Let's discuss what has happened, why, and what is going to happen next. No debate about "fascism" and especially ANY MENTION OF POLAND except in the context of recent events is allowed.

Ukraine has issued a warrant for the arrest of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, the interim interior minister has announced.

Arsen Avakov said in a Facebook post a criminal case had been opened against Mr Yanukovych and other officials over "mass murder of peaceful citizens".

MPs voted to remove Mr Yanukovych on Saturday after months of protest sparked by his rejection of an EU deal.

A crackdown on the protests last week left dozens dead.

Mr Avakov said Mr Yanukovych was seen in Balaklava on the Crimean peninsula on Sunday, but that he had left by car for an unknown destination, accompanied by an aide.

Before leaving Balaklava he had relieved his security detail of their duties, said the statement.

Mr Avakov - an key opposition figure - was appointed interim interior minister on Saturday, in a day of fast-paced events in parliament.

He replaced Vitaly Zakharchenko, who was sacked the day before after being blamed for the deaths of civilians in the crackdown on protesters.

The protests first began in late November when Mr Yanukovych rejected a landmark association and trade deal with the EU in favour of closer ties with Russia.

Mr Yanukovych insisted on Saturday that he was still Ukraine's legitimate leader, but he had become increasingly isolated and parliament voted to impeach him and hold presidential elections in May.

Meanwhile, the new interim finance minister, Yuriy Kolobov, has said Ukraine needs around $35bn (£21bn) in urgent foreign aid and asked for an international donors' conference to be held.

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So, what has happened until now?

- Yanukuvych has been impeached by the Parliament (legitimately). He most likely attempted to flee Ukraine, but failed. Now he says he won't leave and refuses to recognize anything the Parliament in Kiev says.
- New unity government is forming in Ukraine to prepare early elections in May.
- Both EU and Russia claim they are committed to a territorially unified Ukraine. However, Russia is in talks with the Crimean separatists and likely also preparing other contingency plans.
- Some eastern regions of Ukraine refuse to recognize the power shift and are calling for "federalisation" of Ukraine, meaning self-rule with no regard to the rest of the country.

Source? Other than how prime minister Viktor Orbán is trying to reach out to Russia nowadays there is no evidence that would suggest Yanukovich could pass the border of the Schengen Area and seek asylum in Hungary

Source? Other than how prime minister Viktor Orbán is trying to reach out to Russia nowadays there is no evidence that would suggest Yanukovich could pass the border of the Schengen Area and seek asylum in Hungary

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Maybe Orbán has something to sell which will help break a bit of the supposedly impregnable wall.

Λέων μεν ὄνυξι κρατεῖ, κέρασι δε βούς, ἄνθρωπος δε νῷι
"While the lion prevails with its claws, and the ox through its horns, man does by his thinking"
Anaxagoras of Klazomenae, 5th century BC

Who is who doesn't matter does it? What is where does. This situation is providing all the pretext the Soviets ever needed to roll their tanks and Putin, ex KGB, deeply regrets the loss of the empire, yes? My question is, why hasn't Putin rolled the what? Where are the Russian armored divisions?

Making Civfanatics Great Again, for you. ***Edit: This might not be so easy after all, turns out its against policy.

What will be interesting to follow is the reaction of the more Maidan-sceptical regions. If they just give up and recognize the authority of the central (revolutionary) government, there will be some source of accommodation.

If the new government is actually required to bring them back into the fold by force, that may cause some friction.

Crimea has the potential to ignite a larger military confrontation, it being the most hardcore pro-Russian region.

I could use some clarification by folks in the know. I know there was talk of restoring a previous Constitution and I am guessing this is why, but...

So Yanukuvych was President, but Tymoshenko was Prime Minister and at the time was the top dog. Did some Constitutional change move them from a parliamentary system to a Presidential one, or has it always been a mix of the two and Yanukuvych just absorbed some PM powers into the Presidency or... what?

EDIT: And, of course, how will this affect what happens in the future? Is that deal to roll back the Constitution still in effect, and if so just what changes will that make?

Hats off for the Maidan protesters!!! Yanukuvych is political corpse. However the situation in spite of what has been achieved seems to be still very challenging. What matters is if most of the powerful oligarchs will join on the new pro-democratic and pro-national change since they have the most corrupting potential. Russia is another question and in my secret dreams I hope for some kind of change within Russia as well. Russia (Putin) has failed to keep Ukraine under its control and eventually will fail to supress its own citizenry as well.

... Pompey’s head hewn off on the sands of Egypt and Caesar bleeding at Pompey’s sculptured feet...

I'm most interested to see if there is going to be some kind of split with the East (especially Crimea), and if there will Russia provide them with military support? Also if Crimea does successfully withdraw from the Ukraine will it become independent or join Russia?

Why did the weirdos on CFC turn this into a left-right thing? It didn't really come across as such from here.

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I've been spending way too much potential homework time on catching up on Ukraine. I agree, there is not much of a left-right dimension unless maybe you're using it as a lens to analyze causes. The left is not really there on the ground and its not obviously not embodied in the EU or Russia.

There have been claims that much of the brawn in the protest movement has been supplied by far right nationalist groups like Sovoboda (sp) & Right Sector. This observation apparently is a political statement to some. I won't bring it up again since I don't want to derail this thread. The composition of the anti-government coalition will matter even more in the coming weeks and we can talk about it then I guess.

"We have dined with the devil. But we ourselves are not the devil. We had very long forks."Chat at #nes! Chat at #fiftychat! ​

What will be interesting to follow is the reaction of the more Maidan-sceptical regions. If they just give up and recognize the authority of the central (revolutionary) government, there will be some source of accommodation.

If the new government is actually required to bring them back into the fold by force, that may cause some friction.

Crimea has the potential to ignite a larger military confrontation, it being the most hardcore pro-Russian region.

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"cause some friction"
The moment they start pulling nationalistic crap on them they will cease to recognize them as authority, and then the separation will happen. It's still my hope that Timoshenko/Yatsenyuk/Klitchko are not that f*cking stupid, but you never know.

"cause some friction"
The moment they start pulling nationalistic crap on them they will cease to recognize them as authority, and then the separation will happen. It's still my hope that Timoshenko/Yatsenyuk/Klitchko are not that f*cking stupid, but you never know.

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Well, what would qualify as "pulling nationalistic crap" in this context?

No debate about "fascism" and especially ANY MENTION OF POLAND except in the context of recent events is allowed.

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Okay.

Those militants of renovated Ukrainian Insurgent Army intimidate people telling them that they will kill them if they speak Russian or won't move away. Deputies being stoned or being elected by those militants now revoke the status of Russian and are going to ban it.

There's a hearsay that those militants stopped a bus from the country you can't mention here in any way and forced the passangers to shout "Hail Ukraine! Hail Heroes!" under the threat to put them "w pechku" &#8211; into an "oven" like the original Ukrainian Insurgent Army did to Jews and Poles and other ethnicities.

I am sure now that Winner is a true example of this ideology he denies to debate about here, since he's so diligent in distracting from it and censoring it.

What other languages are/were protected by law? Don't the laws of the provinces and autonomous republics still stand?

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All languages of minorities, such as Romanian, Tatar, Moldavian, etc. The law was giving some additional preferences ("regional" status) to languages spoken by >10% minorities. Now it's cancelled and as far as I understand, provinces have no right to regulate such things by themselves. Also, crowds of "revolutionaries" are destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers. Very wise and friendly actions of new authorities, what can I say.

All languages of minorities, such as Romanian, Tatar, Moldavian, etc. The law was giving some additional preferences ("regional" status) to languages spoken by >10% minorities. Now it's cancelled and as far as I understand, provinces have no right to regulate such things by themselves. Also, crowds of "revolutionaries" are destroying monuments to Soviet soldiers. Very wise and friendly actions of new authorities, what can I say.

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Did Russian get such a status? or is it co-official with Ukrainian?

red_elk said:

The ambassador was called off, not replaced. This is a diplomatic move, I guess Russia will have to send ambassador back there eventually, when the situation changes.

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But will Russia send the same ambassador back to Ukraine, or will they change him? A change in ambassadors usually means a change of policy, might be a sign of rapprochement or of a hardening stance.